According to the latest IPCC report, in the last three decades the surface and oceanic surface has been on average and constantly warmer than any previous decade, so much so that in the northern hemisphere the three-year period 1983-2012 was the hottest in the last 1400 years. In the 1880-2012 interval, that is, when there are multiple sets of weather data produced independently, the average surface temperature of the earth and oceans, combined globally, shows a warming of 0.85 ° C, with a range of variation from 0.65 to 1.06 ° C.
The situation in general
Compliance with the Paris agreement, signed in 2015 by no less than 196 countries, which plans to limit the increase in the average temperature of the planet by 2°C by the end of the century, can only be achieved through the combined action of the reduction CO2 emissions, on the one hand, and the sequestration of carbon in the atmosphere, on the other. Above this threshold, the social and economic cost would become incalculable and sign of a sharp economic recession linked to an increase in population migration and a concomitant fall in average per capita income and global gross domestic product.
Natural disasters and loss of agricultural production caused by extreme weather events (eg water bombs, floods, landslides, landslides, droughts, heat waves, frost, whirlwinds, hurricanes, typhoons, etc.) will be the basis of this more or less general impoverishment of the whole planet earth.
The situation in agriculture
As a whole, agriculture can be considered a victim of global warming (crops at risk and / or heavily reduced due to floods, droughts and other extreme weather events) and executioner (irrational exploitation of soils, deforestation and high production of CO2).
The reduction of the carbon footprint in all the agri-food supply chains is today an imperative necessity; and here is the shift of crops to more suitable areas, the use of resistant cultivars, grassing and growing, the optimization of pastures, the most environmentally friendly crop models, precision agriculture and the variable rate , the latest generation of eco-compatible machines and equipment, sensors both remotely and proximally (Internet of Things included) that can highlight plant responses to deviations and guide defense, irrigation, nutrition, management of foliage and soil, etc., become important technical tools to be exploited and used extensively, as they are able to provide concrete help both immediately and in the future.
So, what is the social cost of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere?
From the last issue of the scientific journal Nature Climate Change comes the answer to this delicate question: the authors estimate, in fact, that for every tonne of CO2 emitted by man in the atmosphere, humanity pays an account of 417 dollars on average.
In 2017, about 37 billion tons of CO2 were released into the atmosphere of the planet Earth, therefore the estimated global monetary outlay amounts to 15,000 billion dollars, which is almost equivalent to the GDP generated each year by the EU countries at 28 or to that produced in Italy in 8 years.
Without doing psychological terrorism, it should be remembered that in recent years the ascertained increase in new viruses and infectious agents in European countries, Italy in particular, is caused by the increase in more hospitable environments, thanks precisely to climate change, not only for them but also for specific vectors, mosquitoes and bugs in the first place. This phenomenon also inevitably leads to very high additional costs to be incurred, even here to be entirely attributed to global warming.